CaixaBank has been ranked as the third best company in the world in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index (GEI), a list that includes the most committed companies to gender equality.
The bank, listed for the fifth year in a row in this benchmark index, has received its highest score ever. In addition, this score is above the total average, the average for financial institutions and the average for all other Spanish companies.
The Bloomberg GEI assesses companies’ gender equality policies and transparency in disclosing their programmes and statistics in this regard. In the case of CaixaBank, one of the aspects that boosted its score in the index were the actions and initiatives that CaixaBank has to empower women in every area, whether internal or external to the organisation, as well as the anti-sexual harassment policies implemented by the bank. The women inclusion and equality measures that CaixaBank promotes inside the organisation also stood out.
CaixaBank's CEO, Gonzalo Gortazar, celebrates the inclusion of the bank in the 2023 GEI and explains why the bank is so committed in improving in these areas on a daily basis: "Gender equality leads to better dynamics, better teams, better decisions and better results. For a group like CaixaBank, with long-lasting social commitment and a vocation for leadership, to carry on promoting gender equality and team diversity in every dimension is a must. Improving diversity also entails constantly revising and reinforcing meritocracy, which is needed to build a more able, stronger and competitive organisation”.
GEI, a benchmark index that measures gender equality across five pillars
In the 2023 edition of its GEI, Bloomberg has included 485 companies from 45 countries. Of these, 153 are financial institutions, and 23 are Spanish companies. The selected organisations come from 11 sectors and 54 different industries and have a combined market capitalisation of $16 trillion.
The index measures gender equality across five pillars: women leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies and a pro-woman brand.
Even though the threshold for inclusion in the GEI has gone up, the list of members has grown in 2023. This means that more companies are working to improve their gender-based indicators, which creates better opportunities so that various talents can succeed in organisations.
Wengage, CaixaBank's commitment to equality
Diversity, meritocracy, equal opportunity and talent recognition are some of the pillars of CaixaBank's corporate culture. On this basis, the entity works with the commitment of being a benchmark for its employees by encouraging inclusion and participation, and by promoting projects that advocate for equality both in the company and in society as a whole. In fact, 41.8% of managerial positions at CaixaBank are held by women, as are 40% of the seats on the Board of Directors, one of the highest ratios in the sector.
CaixaBank has the Wengage diversity programme, a Group-wide project developed by people from every area of the company. Based on meritocracy and on promoting equal opportunity, it works to encourage and implement every aspect of diversity: gender, functional, generational, LGBTI and cultural. Wengage includes internal measures to engage with and raise everyone's awareness of the value of diversity, to promote flexibility and work-life balance, through shortlists for internal promotions and female mentoring plans.
Externally, Wengage also develops initiatives for customers and society that rely on promoting diversity in four areas of action: leadership and enterprise, by organising different prizes to recognise female leadership in business (Woman Entrepreneur Award and Self-Employed Woman Award); innovation and education (WONNOW Awards for academic excellence by women in a STEM field); sport (sponsorship of the women's national basketball team) and rural environment (AgroBank Chair: Women, business and rural environment, or a study of the gender gap in the agricultural sector by Closingap).
In addition, CaixaBank has an Equality Plan to promote the principles of equal opportunity and the diversity of work teams, boost the presence of women in managerial positions, and reinforce measures to balance personal and professional life. The plan features the scope of gender in managerial development programmes and in recruitment and training processes, and the fostering of remote working and flexibility.
